In a document management system, this invention enables updates to the structure of a document tree, and its subtrees, without requiring that the updated subtrees be checked out by the user who is changing the document. This invention consists of an unversioned data field in addition to, and separate from, the versioned portion of the document element data field which can be used for this purpose.
In typical prior document management systems for use in creating and managing large numbers of complex documents, documents are formed into tree structures, where, for example, the root of the tree represents the document, and the next elements below are the chapters, followed by sections, and paragraphs. When a change must be made to an element of a document, it is "checked out" by a user, assuming he has the necessary privileges, and is changed in any way by him. During this time, other users can view this element of the document, but can not modify it. After the user has finished his editing, he checks in the document, whereupon it is again available to other users.
Each element of a document is associated with a data field. For example, one node of a tree may be a chapter, and contain textual data in the form of a chapter heading, a chapter introductory paragraph, a chapter abstract, etc., as well as "structural" data such as the identity of a parent (document), identity of children (sections), and connections to other places in other documents where the same language may also be used. The person who has the document checked out is the only person who can change any of this textual or structural data.
A frequent problem is that several users need to check out the same element. A method of minimizing the probability of two or more users wanting to check out the same document element would be desirable.